It's one of the most annoying moments in DIY: You're taking something apart and the head of the nail snaps off or the screw strips. Don't panic! Here's what you can do.

It never fails. I'm taking something apart in the 1950s house I'm remodeling and a nail snaps off, or the head of a screw strips, then I waste all kinds of time dealing with it. Is it me, or does this happen to everybody?

It's true, sometimes removal is more time-consuming (and more of a pain) than any other part of the job. As the years have gone by I've become more resourceful when removing stuck or broken fasteners. The result is that I'm getting more efficient at dismantlingand I'm suffering fewer skinned knuckles. By the way, a deft touch succeeds over brute force any day.

One of the best and most unusual removal tools I've found in recent years is the CoBolt from Knipex (model 71 41 200). It's a hybrid of a bolt cutter and offset diagonal cutting pliers. I use it to dig out nails, lift staples, and snip through screws, bolts, and small chain links. Forged from chrome vanadium tool steel, it can bite firmly into a hardened-steel roll pin, allowing you to lever out the offending object. The CoBolt deals with a stuck Woodruff key the same way, which is to say, effortlessly. At 8½ inches it slides into your back pocket or pouch. The German-made tool is expensive (about $50) but worth every penny.

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On a related note, you can save time by deciding before you begin a project whether to salvage the object you plan to fix. Sometimes it's much simpler and fasterand even cheaperto cut something free and replace it than it is to coax out a fastener or pry something apart, all with the intention of reassemblage. I'm conscious of saving money and loathe to send things to the landfill unnecessarily, but I'm also fairly decisive about when to fiddle with a fixor leave something at the curb.